Independence Day

We had such a fun 4th of July this year. The day started off with a flag ceremony at the Library and then a kiddie parade along the Jordan River down to the park where we had a pancake breakfast for the community. Henry and Maisie had a ball decorating their bikes and riding in the parade. You will notice what a safety conscious mother I am by the helmet Henry is wearing. Doh! It was even red and would have completed the red, white, and blue ensemble I tried to coordinate. Good thing the kids were riding VERY SLOWLY along the parkway.

After the parade Henry and I met Buffy and the boys for some swimming at the Cottonwood Heights rec center. Even though the weather was warm, there was a nice cloud cover so it never got too hot. The boys had a fantastic time and I was happy as a clam chatting with Buffy while the boys swam.
That night we had our own fireworks (thank you Teag for the display you provided from "across the border"). Kevin and Grandpa also set up an outdoor movie on the back of Grandma and Grandpas house and we watched Shanghai Noon to cap off the night. Great idea Kerri! It was a very fun day.

Oh and one more happy piece of news...on July 3rd, the world welcomed Matthew Lowe Nelson , son of Rich and Kristl Nelson, our very good friends. We are so happy to have you here Matt and we look forward to future holidays with you and the Nelson clan:) For a picture of a perfect baby boy, check out Rich and Kristls' blog.

Finally...a weekend at the Proper D

We finally made it up to the Proper D last weekend. We have spent all year trying to get up there and then we got snowed out over Memorial Day. Our property sits at almost 9,000 feet in Argyle Canyon (between Price and Duchesne). It is really a pretty piece of land and I love it because Henry can run wild and I don't have to worry about cars or other campers. The long term plan is to build a cabin, but we have some other projects to work on for now. Plus, our ship hasn't come in just yet.

So the picture below is an example of how not to build a bowry. The previous owners underestimated the snowload up there and didn't use the right materials. So after a very wet winter this was the result. Oops!

Kevin and his dad spent all of Friday tearing down the old stuff and putting up brackets for the new bowry that we are building. We are recycling the old posts, but beefing up the brackets that will hold the new timber. We will also put in a concrete pad for picnic tables and an outdoor kitchen. The men also found time to procure some rocks for a retaining rock wall along the west side of the bowry. So the picture above is before and the picture below is after. Kevin's little brother, Nate, once said that Kevin's dad's idea of a vacation is just working in a different location. Apparently Kevin suffers from the same disease.

While the men were busy working, the women and kids were busy playing. Maisie, Henry, and Grandma quite enjoyed the Swingball game that we took up.

Maisie and Henry also spent a fair amount of time in the kids cabin below. Most of the time they were busy playing "brother and sister" and fighting as though they really are siblings, not cousins.

Henry and I spent a fair amount of time hanging out in the hammock that Kevin bought me a couple of years ago. I had never really used it before and I discovered on this trip that there isn't anything better than relaxing in a hammock with a book. It was fantastic.

On Saturday afternoon we headed into Price for some fun. Not possible you say? Well then you have never been to Price's wave pool (the biggest waves in Utah, mind you.) The kids had a great time and the adults loved the big waves. It really was pretty impressive so if you are ever in the area...

Here's a picture of Henry and I at the wave pool. I am sporting Kevin's FAVORITE pair of sunglasses. He despises the big Hollywood glasses and unfortunately for him, they are the only pair that I have that don't hurt my head after a while. So, sorry Kevin but now here they are documented for life.

On Sunday afternoon, we decided to take the long route home and come through Nine Mile Canyon. We were deceived by the name as what we thought would be a small detour ended up being a six hour drive home (The canyon is actually 40 miles long). Oh well. It was pretty neat as you can see by the pictures below. As far as we have been told, Nine Mile Canyon has some of the most spectacular rock art in the world. Called "the world's longest art gallery" it is home to numerous rock art panels, including the famous "Hunter Panel" which we did not see. Most of the rock art was created by the Fremont Indians who occupied this area some 1,000 years ago.

The only bugger is that the area is not protected because most of the land is private property. So as we would be looking at what we thought was an ancient petroglyph, all of the sudden we would discover a smiley face. Hmmm...suspect. But really, it is very cool. And only 30 miles from the Proper D.Henry was a trooper in the car on the way home. He deserves the title of World's Best Roadtripping Kid. Here's to you Hank! It was a great weekend. Hopefully we will get back up there the last weekend in July.